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Cairo:- The General Authority for Health Insurance and Novo Nordisk, the world's leading manufacturer of insulin and hemophilia treatment, opened today the first Center of Excellence for the treatment of hemophilia patients at Atfal Misr Health Insurance Hospital in El Sayeda Zeinab.
The opening ceremony was attended by Dr. Ahmed Mohy, Assistant to the Minister of Health, Dr. Soheir Abd El Hameed, the Head of General Authority for Health Insurance; Hassan Fahmi, General Manager, Novo Nordisk Egypt; Dr. Naglaa Shahin, Head of Hematology Department at Atfal Misr Hospital; Dr. Ahmed Soror, Head of Business Development, Novo Nordisk Egypt, as well as a number of senior officials from the Ministry of Health, Genral Authority of Health Insurance, and Novo Nordisk Egypt. During the press conference held after the opening ceremony, the attendees tackled the importance of this step in treating cases and addressing the health challenges of hemophilia in Egypt. They also highlighted the role of the General Authority of Health Insurance and Novo Nordisk in providing the latest treatments and clinical care for children with hemophilia and providing recombinant factors manufactured by biotechnology that are offered free-of-charge by the authority. The center will be fully operated by the General Authority of Health Insurance, while Novo Nordisk Egypt will provide technical support and training. The total cost of the new center is approximately EGP 2 million including all medical equipment, furniture, construction and renovations.
The Center of Excellence is equipped according to the latest international standards with an integrated medical team to serve patients, and came as a result of the fruitful cooperation between the General Authority of Health Insurance and Novo Nordisk. It aims to develop an integrated plan to provide the highest level of health care to Egyptians with hemophilia through the development and implementation of a protocol to provide the latest treatments available in this field, while continuing to develop the scientific and clinical expertise of Hematologists to benefit hemophilia patients. For its part, Novo Nordisk organizes training programs for continuing medical education for all specialists in the center. These programs cover the most recent methods in the management of the Center with the help of local and international training programs such as REACH, the remote therapy program for Hemophilia patients, in addition to Meet the Expert program. In addition, Novo Nordisk provides the center with all the modern equipment specialized in diagnosing the disease, as well as equipping an integrated laboratory for hemophilia, including blood coagulation assay devices and other equipment. The Center is also equipped with an electronic database management system for patients, as Novo Nordisk seeks to help the General Authority of Health Insurance with developing a national database for hemophilia patients in Egypt. Novo Nordisk will provide the required electronic system and train employees to use it so that the collected data are fully owned by the Health Insurance Organization and will be synchronized and consolidated at the central computer of Atfal Misr Health Insurance Hospital.
“Novo Nordisk has vast experience in hemophilia treatment worldwide. Managing hemophilia is a lifelong challenge, but what is even more serious are related health complications that can cause complete disability of the patient and inability to move,” said Hassan Fahmi, General Manager, Novo Nordisk Egypt. “As a part of our constant commitment toward Egyptian society, Novo Nordisk has cooperated with Egypt’s Health Insurance Organization to establish a Center of Excellence for Hemophilia treatment in Atfal Misr Hospital, equipping it according to the best world health care standards."
"The opening of the new Center of Excellence at Atfal Misr Hospital is an important step in supporting those with hemophilia according to the latest scientific, clinical and therapeutic methods applied worldwide," said Dr. Soheir Abd El Hameed, Head of General Authority of Health Insurance. "I would like to thank Novo Nordisk for its constant cooperation with HIO in order to support our efforts aiming to treat hemophilia in Egypt as one of the world's leading companies in treating the disease. The main goal of hemophilia treatment lies in preventing bleeding and its immediate treatment through providing the patient with clotting factors that he lacks, to ease the severity of the bleeding, which would reduce complications in the long term.”
"For those with the disease, 70-80% of most bleeding manifestations occur in the joints, 10-20% in the muscle/soft tissue and about 5% in CNS, with other types of bleeding that may threaten patient’s life and require immediate treatment.1" added Dr. Naglaa Shahin-Head of Hematology Department at Atfal Misr Hospital. "Over the long term, the presence of blood in the joints and re-bleeding leads to chronic synovitis, development of a target joint, and progressive arthropathy"
Such chronic deterioration of joint status mainly affects patients with severe hemophilia (factor level <1 %) as they are characterized by more frequent spontaneous joint bleeds leading to disability if not treated. This was the key driver behind the establishment of the first Center of Excellence for Hemophilia Treatment, as to cater to healthcare needs of hemophilia patients, by offering them a comprehensive solution.
Hemophilia background
Hemophilia is a genetic disease usually transmitted by genes inherited from the father or mother; it is relatively rare X-linked congenital bleeding disorder. There are two types of hemophilia: hemophilia A (FVIII deficiency) and hemophilia B (FIX deficiency). Hemophilia A is more common than hemophilia B, representing 80-85% of the total hemophilia population. Since hemophilia A and B are caused by a defect on the X (sex) chromosome, they generally affect males while females are carriers.1 It is a lifelong condition with a tendency for prolonged bleeding that occurs spontaneously in those with severe hemophilia.
Hemophilia is categorized into three main types according to clotting factor level. The clotting factor in severe conditions does not exceed 1%, while it reaches 1-5% in moderate conditions and 5-40% in mild conditions. However, there is no sufficient data about hemophilia patients in Egypt due to the absence of a comprehensive study on the disease. According to the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH), the estimated number of hemophilia patients in Egypt is around 5246, though other studies estimate this figure to be around 8,300 patients.2
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For further information
Media Relations Manager: Abeer El Areeny
Phone: +201025007699
Email: aaey@novonordisk.com
About Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with more than 90 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. This heritage has given us experience and capabilities that also enable us to help people defeat other serious chronic conditions: haemophilia, growth disorders and obesity. Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk employs approximately 39,700 people in 75 countries and markets its products in more than 180 countries. For more information, visit www.novonordisk.com ,
References
- Srivastava A et al. Guidelines for the management of hemophilia. Haemophilia 2012; 1–47.
- Annual global survey 2013 published on WFH November 2014.
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